I’ve worked at McDonald’s for 10 years and still make $7.35 an hour (job opening, interviewed)
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If you write well, that indicates a level of intelligence and education. It implies the ability to communicate, the number one quality employers are seeking in a hire.
It may be one of the qualities employers seek depending on the circumstances (I doubt someone who's hiring a Plumber would care if whoever they select can spell Encyclopedia).
But again, you implied that a person should automatically be able to find a job beyond fast food if they can merely write good.
The term "judgmental" has to be the laziest accusation on the planet. In truth, being judgmental is actually a pretty good thing most of the time, because people should indeed be held accountable for the decisions they've made in their lives. I mean, someone who has four children outside of a committed relationship is just incredibly foolish. As in unwise. And that lack of wisdom is apparent in her professional life, too, for she decided to languish for ten years in what was an entry level job.
In fact, my B.S. detector pretty much redlines on the entire piece. The reason? It is, in all actuality, a polished and well-written article, displaying a command of the language beyond what one will typically find in the back room of a fast-food restaurant.
So from the fact that this is a well-written article, I can glean that either a) the purported author didn't write the article at all or b) the author has an education but just can't get it together to find a better job. You cannot tell me that any normal, functional person with this writing ability could not land a job -- any job -- better than slinging french fries.
What's more, if the author of this article was really that smart and articulate yet was still working at McDonalds, she would have been given a shot at manager. Instead, I think the entire article is either ginned-up propaganda or was penned by the most dysfunctional worker on the planet.
If the second is true, then this article's existence is absolute proof she really is stupid beyond all human belief. For writing a screed against your current employer, even one that pays minimum wage, is the height of idiocy.
In either case, you have to wonder about people's credulity. It is not McDonalds' job to pay enough to provide a middle-class wage, which $30,000 is in many parts of the country, Charleston included. It is McDonald's job to provide decent food, inexpensively priced, in the most efficient way possible, generating returns for shareholders.
Good writing skills, unless they are good enough to get a person hired for a writing position, are considered by employers merely as desirable secondary skills, and in the absence of a required primary skill, will never get a person hired.
In my area some of the employment agencies will let you train on their office equipment, for free, so they can fill entry level office jobs. Most of these jobs start around $9 an hour -- which would be a raise for the McDonald's worker
Good writing skills, unless they are good enough to get a person hired for a writing position, are considered by employers merely as desirable secondary skills, and in the absence of a required primary skill, will never get a person hired.
But you miss my point. If she were really that good of a writer, then why hasn't she found a job where writing was a core function?
Now that I'm over 60, I can't get ANY full-time career-type job. But, hey, I guess that's my fault. My magna *** laude college degree just doesn't cut it. The fact that I moved out of the rust belt and across the country for better job opportunities wasn't showing enough effort. I just don't TRY hard enough or do what society tells me I should do to be a respected worker in America.
This concerns me. It's hard enough as it is, and having been laid off before, what do you do when you keep working and then get laid off at 45, or 50, or 60? And nobody wants you? Then what?
You can avoid certain things by getting degrees or being a top performer or whatever people throw out there, but you can't avoid getting old (other than dying). If you're 55 and are the one without a chair in employment musical chairs...
Ding-ding! There's people with college degrees working at fast food restaurants today! And? Saddled with student loans they'll never be able to pay off!
She would have had to pay a babysitter to watch the kids so she could go to school. I guess she doesn't know about the programs that would help her, so she could get a better job.
Yes. Everybody at McDonald's should go to school and get a better job. Jobs will magically materialize because we are a meritocracy that creates jobs based on how skilled people are. Then everybody will be middle class and rich. Woohoo! You're a genius!
I wonder how far beyond fast food places the young woman in the article (or anyone else in her position) has looked to find work that pays better. There are a lot of jobs that don't require formal schooling, just OJT, but they are often overlooked because they are difficult and frequently dirty. Just look at all the jobs and businesses featured on Dirty Jobs. They're not glamorous and some involve unpleasant elements, but they are the sorts of jobs that aren't going to be outsourced overseas any time soon.
How about mowing lawns or cleaning houses? I pay my lawn service guy $50 a week and my cleaning lady $17 an hour. They are both self-employed. The people who hauled away the broken planter boxes, old patio furniture, and old lawnmowers from my yard and shed a few months ago were a mother and her teenage son. They had no fancy equipment, just an old pickup truck and a desire to get ahead in life, so they started a business. They did a good job, so I will be hiring them again when I get around to clearing out my basement. The people who cleared out my Dad's house after he passed away operate their business with UHaul trucks so they don't have to maintain an expensive fleet of trucks of their own; they just rent what then need for each job. They packed up everything I wanted to keep and transported it to my house, then took everything else either to be auctioned (which they managed) or to be donated, and then cleaned the house once it was empty. They paid $12/hr to start in a semi-rural area of Pennsylvania. There are a lot of jobs that don't require extensive education and businesses that don't require a lot of up-front investment. The two young women working for the company that landscaped my back yard were making $15 an hour. I wonder if the young woman in the article ever considered finding someone with a "dirty jobs" business and asking if they're hiring.
There is a world of work beyond fast food for those who lack high-level skills, and they tend to pay better than fast food.
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